California: Judge Calls for Inquiry Into His Conduct Over Web Site

The judge presiding over an obscenity trial in Los Angeles has called for an investigation into his own conduct for storing lewd photos and videos on a publicly accessible Web site. The judge, Alex Kozinski, asked an ethics panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, to initiate proceedings after the disclosure about his trove of sexually explicit material. “I will cooperate fully in any investigation,” Judge Kozinski, 57, chief judge of the circuit, said in a statement. The graphic material has opened questions about his fitness to serve on the high-profile obscenity case as well as the standard for what types of images are taboo, particularly on a judge’s personal Web site. Although he requested an investigation, it is unclear what, if any, discipline Judge Kozinski could face. Circuit judges are appointed for life and can be fired only by Congress, though they can be censured by fellow jurists.

A version of this brief appears in print on , on page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: California: Judge Calls For Inquiry into His Conduct Over Web Site. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe